Mostly, I hung out in my parents’ living room, and baby D was all…

Oh, and he took up giggling in a big way.

Sherry threw us a baby meet & greet though, and D got lots of neato stuff I still need to write thank you cards for (I am disgustingly behind on that)

And he discovered the joys of the baby executive toy bouncer. GOOD TIMES!

Then we flew home. Baby D was again a flying champion. He’s a good little dude! We were home for a few days until we were back at the airport to fly off to the UK. We scheduled the flight for bedtime, which was pretty much perfect as he slept the whole flight. He was so good and quiet that the flight attendants made him this crown. Next stop.. Toddlers and Tiaras!

Once we were in London, we made our way to our old house to crash with and see our old flatties. GOOD TIMES. Jane changed her first ever diaper.

We explored London for a few days and even took Derek into a few pubs (totes legal there). I demonstrated some amazing multitasking.

Saturday morning arrived, and we made our way back to Gatwick to pick up our rental car and head to the Cotswolds. Rather than drag D’s seat all around, we rented one from the rental company, which was kind of a mistake because he hated it with the fire of a thousand suns, and I basically had to sit in the back seat with him the whole time and entertain him and feed him and MAKE EVERYTHING A BIT BETTER BECAUSE STUPID CAR SEAT IS STUPID. This is the closest he got to smiling. Excuse the milk.

After a few hours of driving, and some stern words with Janice (it’s what we’ve named our GPS – she’s kind of know-it-ally and bitchy and just seems all around like a Janice), we arrived at our rental cottage. NOT TOO SHABBY! Pretty much looks like a scene from Jane Eyre or Tess of the D’Urbervilles

The rental was on a real working farm, so there were adorable baby piglets to admire

Baby D is not so sure about the pigs. THEY ARE THE SOURCE OF BACON, YOU SILLY BABY!

Or perhaps he just hates his hat. I can’t blame him. His mama dresses him funny.

Our week in the Cotswolds was spent relaxing and hanging out and going for walks and playing lots and lots of Draw Something. I am addicted to that game. Mostly because it provides me with many excuses to draw penises.

Once our week was up, we hopped back into our rental (and the dreaded torture car seat of doom) and went up to Northern Wales to visit Mike’s grandparents.

They were over the MOON to meet him – he’s their first great-grandchild. Derek also got to take a bath in the same sink Mike was bathed in as a baby. (Well, not the same sink as it was replaced, but same sink location).

We did a walk around Wrexham as well. Want to make a bajillion dollars? Go sell babywearing wraps in Northern Wales. Everyone LOVED them. I was stopped several times so people could admire him and comment on how snug he looked.

After a few days of hanging out there, it was time to go home. Back on the big plane for a LONG flight home. Sprocket was an angel again and enchanted all of our seat neighbors. We’ve been home since Thursday and have been making up for lost social time – dinner and Cranium with Tyler and Leslie on Friday, BBQ with a bunch of other friends on Saturday, and dinner at Mike’s mom’s on Sunday. Everyone seems pretty much over their jet lag now, so I have my fingers crossed that there won’t be any 3:30am wake ups tonight!

You even get to walk THROUGH it at one point. Dude, ROMANS walked there bajillions of years ago. How cool is that!

Although there is still some old timey stuff out and about, a lot of it is new. Our tour guide (Steve) did an excellent job of explaining how things were back in 1888 – both physically and societally. He honestly made the tour for us, so even though these pictures are probably a bit SNORE, if you’re in London, do the walk.

This is an old church where 1888 prostitutes used to congregate. To find business, naturally, not to worship the lord or reform their sinful ways.

Around the corner from this building is where the bloodied piece of Catherine Eddowes’ apron was found. Apparently the building is the same building, just been repurposed several times since 1888.

Cobblestone courtyard where one of the victims was found. I forget which one for sure, but I want to say it was Long Lizzie Stride.

Carpark that now stands on the site where Mary Kelly’s Miller’s Court 12×12 foot rooming house was.

Ten Bells Pub, frequent haunt of Mary Kelly and Annie Chapman. Of course, we had to go inside and check it out!

Pretty tile work on the interior

Mike and I, being all cuddly in the Jack the Ripper pub. SO ROMANTIC

Shaun and Roseanna, following our lead!

After that, we walked around Brick Lane for a bit, then headed home because it was past 10 on a Wednesday, and we’re old.

Saturday, the boys went to watch rugby at Twickenham, and the girls had a girls day. We went and got manicures and pedicures, then off to Harrods for Afternoon Tea. Very British and very fancy. A nice stacked tray of sandwiches and scones (omigod, so good, we each ate 3 and were full of regret but not really after)

Jane (left – still looking like Catherine Middleton.. er Windsor?) and Laura (right) had pink champagne with theirs. Mike has been informed that we will be going back when I am Not Pregnant so that I may enjoy the wonder that is pink champagne. Missing: Katherine. She sadly had other plans already. Something about having a life or something.

The shocking bill. It was on fancy paper though, so that made it a LITTLE less heartstopping.

After tea (which took 2.5 hours – we got our money’s worth), we walked around Harrod’s. I picked up a sleep bag for Sprocket. It wasn’t the same as the link – I liked the one linked too, but it was lightweight, and baby is due in December, so I picked up a heavier one. Very cute (but pricey) stuff!

We also walked around the toy department. I have a not-so secret retirement plan of getting a doll house and decorating and furnishing it. We saw my dream dollhouse there. Only £899! BARGAIN. It was almost as nice as Queen Mary’s Dollhouse. Laura and I also lavished some love on the giant beefeater bear.

We also saw the Egyptian staircase where there was a LIVE opera singer performing, and walked all around and through the Harrods gift shop, where I picked up prezzies for other people and a few bibs for Sprocket. On our way out, we saw the Diana and Dodi statue.

After that, we went home and watched movies until we were tired and went to bed. Boys came home soon after, very drunk, but having had a nice time at the game.

We met in Soho with Shaun and Roseanna, and basically sat inside the Glasshouse. Everyone else drank beer. I had orange juice and water. Discussed babies and pregnancy and baking and other GIRL STUFF with Roseanna (I LOVE having a girl come to these nerd boy meetings) while the boys were all “Render render, sub-surface scattering, rigging, render, voxel, animation, render”. Seriously love having a girl to these things. I mean, I can nerd it up with the best of them, but after the first 3 hours of VFX talk, I’m ready to drop dead of boredom.

I had thought we might remember to take pictures, so I actually used a hair straightener and put on MAKE UP, but we forgot and so my prettiness is not documented. Sad. It was a lot of work and use of time I could have spent napping.

Anyway, we got home and were greeted with a very loud, very drunk houseparty. We knew it was going on but had to give it a pass to meet up with Aussie (no regrets – we love our Canadian visitors). Tried to hang out with them a bit, but roommate Andrew was smoking a cigar, and roommate Michael was very drunkenly concerned about me breathing in cigar fumes. Also, I was sober (of course) and they were very, very drunk… it’s never a lot of fun if the drunk levels are too far off. They were even too drunk for Mike, so we went upstairs and hung out in our room until the party died down around 3am.

Helped the roomies clean up the house (a bit – they did most of the work. I did most of the talking) the next morning. We also decided to slip a note into the letterslot of the nice neighbors (the bad neighbors who let their toddler scream for HOURS at night as well as scream at their kids at top volume at 6:30am on Saturdays can go to hell – we owed them a wake up) apologizing for the loudness.

Mike and I take off to meet Aussie again. Sit on a patio chatting. It was just them (no Roseanna on Sunday ) and I got bored of the nerd talk, so I headed home around six and surfed the internet for a while. Not before forcing the boys to pose for a picture. Boys LOVE posing for pictures. FACT.

Mike is short. Chris is tall. Both are happy.

Later that night, this came in our mailbox from nice neighbors.

Best. Neighbors. Ever. I think they definitely need an invite next time we have a party…

Our original plan was to wait along the route and see all the royals as they proceeded from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace. Then we realised all we’d see would be a quick flash of Royalness and nothing else, so we decided to go to Hyde Park instead. They set up large screens to show the wedding, and there was a live band and all sorts of interesting stuff.

We wanted to get a good place, so we got up SUPER early and met Shaun and Roseanna (Canadian transplants recently moved to London from Vancouver) at London Victoria and walked up to Hyde Park.

We got our wish. We might have been a bit early though because for a while, there was virtually no one else there.

For some reason, there is a picture of the outdoor urinals. Thank Mike for this incredible historical record of an early 21st century portable urinal.

We had tried to get some Royally costumes, but when Mike looked, they were all sold out, so we ended up with chicken hats from the Great British Beer Festival and Justin Bieber masks. Not terribly royal, but different. We had quite a few people ask for pictures with the Biebers. Mike and Shaun model the beautiful Bieber masks here. Flawless.

We also took an (almost) normal picture.

Anyway, after a few hours, the place was PACKED, and the royal wedding began.

I am sure you’ve seen official coverage, so to reduce redundancy, I’m just gonna throw in my personal comments:

• They were CALM. So freakin calm. I’m gonna be a giant blubbering mess on my wedding day, but they were freakishly calm. Weird
• When the RAF planes did a fly over, they circled right over Hyde Park. Super exciting
• Lots of cheers for the Queen. Almost no cheers for Prince Charles. Guess people are still butt hurt over all of the Diana stuff.
• The Queen was super cute on the ride to the Abbey with her little lap blanket, and she looked super happy after the wedding. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile so much at any other event! Very sweet
• The balcony kiss was so tame. I know they’re meant to be conservative…but seriously. He could have been kissing his aunt or something.

After the wedding, there was a live band and all sorts of dancing and conga lines and fun. An amazing day that went off flawlessly for Prince William and Princess Catherine as well as the city of London. I hope their marriage is long and happy.

Anyway, the game was good, nice and busy. As always, the real entertainment was in the sidelines. Mike was sitting on the far edge of our group and made pseudo friends with the guy next to him. Dude bought a motorcycle and loved it, except for the part about how riding it made his foreskin peel back uncomfortably. Apparently he’d tried all sorts of things from different pants to different seating positions with no relief. I have no idea why he felt the need to share this with a stranger, but there we have it. Guy at rugby game’s motorcycle is uncomfortable for his foreskin.

Which is, naturally, near the Camden Town tube station.

I was expecting Camden Market to be a mixture of everything – clothing, food, vegetables, accessories, and housewares, but it was really just clothes and accessories.

We walked around and looked at stuff for a while, then headed further away from the tube station, where we found the much cooler Camden Lock area.

Camden Lock is AWESOME. First of all, there’s a canal running through it

And people take lovely canal boat rides up and down the canal. Very European feeling!

Also, hanging trees everywhere, and they are GREEN because seriously guys… SPRING!!!! Winter is very nearly over!!

The markets around Camden Lock are EXACTLY what I was expecting…miles and miles of clothes and housewares and street vendors selling delicious food (we shared a pork ciabatta bun).

Also, this very cool statue thing..

Oh, and people getting caricatures

We walked around for a few hours (I got a t-shirt with a chicken on it), and then headed home and met Andrew and Laura on their way to the local pub and just followed them out. Today has been all about the internet nerdiness, and we’re back to work tomorrow. Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Friday night, I went with some work friends to see Priscilla: Queen of the Desert. It had been a long time since we’d seen a show, and we wanted to take Lina (the girl I went to St.Paul’s with) to a show while she was in London.

It was AWESOME. First of all, there are so many costumes in this show, and all of them are amazing. The actors and make up are also amazing – so much so that it’s sometimes hard to tell if you’re looking at a man or a woman. The story itself is one of love and acceptance – primary the love and acceptance of transsexuals and crossdressers by themselves and others, but the message applies to all. Everyone deserves love and respect, and you need to love and accept yourself.

Also, it’s FUNNY. Over the top drag queen thatrics, funny one liners, and all over silliness. Overall a good time!

We climbed up all 500+ stairs to the very tippy top, where the view was excellent

Here we are, post climb to the top.

Last night, I got home after the gym and had a long phone conversation with Sherry. She is very, very pregnant and feeling it, poor girl. Because she’s been pretty uncomfortable, she’s been on half days at work, so we had a nice long chat. I can’t really suggest much because frankly, I don’t know a lot about pregnancy, so my role was to coo over her and poor little lamb her. I wish there was more I could do that just talk to her though. I always imagined when one of us had a baby, the other would be a lot closer. It’s hard being so far away for such a big thing. We also talked a lot about all the fun baby stuff – if baby is a girl and has hair, we’re gonna put little pigtails in. If it’s a boy, fake tough bicep tattoos and other silly stuff. Also, lots of cuddling and loving and counting of fingers and toes. I can’t wait to see her, and I can’t wait to meet and hold my little niece or nephew.

Also, I think I got the only professionally drawn portrait I’ll ever have done in the mail yesterday. My friend Megz is an artist (not just for fun – she actually is able to live off of the profits of her art), and she sent me a postcard from Vancouver (no reason, she lives there and just wanted to say hi). Anyway, on the back, she drew a stick figure picture of her cat pooping on my head. My very first portrait. What a great way to start the weekend! <3

P.S. – You can see some of Megz’s work here

I think I might have overdone it a bit, but it was just so much fun. I glued all of the photos onto notebook paper and printed (which killed my hand) little captions underneath. I tried really hard to keep it age-appropriate, which makes it sound like I was posing naked with Flat Stanley (I WASN’T), but all I mean is that I tried to make the big historical sites relatable for them. Like instead of just saying “This is Flat Stanley at Buckingham Palace”, I’d write “Here is Flat Stanley at Buckingham Palace, where the Queen of England lives. If she is on vacation, you can sometimes go inside and walk around, but she was home today so we had to stay outside”.

I also tried to include real tangible things. Like for Westminster Abbey, I said it was a famous church and that the Queen’s grandson was getting married there in the spring, and I included a newspaper clipping of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Actual London Bridge is boring, so we just took a picture at the tube station and mentioned that it’s the real London Bridge from the nursery rhyme. I also included an Oyster Card and a tube map.

I also took him to the American consulate, which I described as “a place you go if you’re in a different country and need help”.

We chilled with the Paddington Bear statue at Paddington station.

We did a few more places – check out Becca’s post for pictures of those. Oh, and I included one of each denomination of change with a little paragraph that said something like “Flat Stanley was interested to hear that in England, the money is called pounds and pence instead of dollars and cents.”

We also took Flat Stanley out for fish and chips. I had tea.

Mike had beer. Flat Stanley was ALL OVER THE BEER (I didn’t send this picture to Elias’ class for reasons of age appropriateness). Look how happy he is to be pounding the Guinness!!

I am off to Paris tomorrow morning – not sure if I’ll have internet to blog, but I’ll certainly have some pictures and hopefully stories to tell when I get back. What is everyone else up to this weekend?